January 11, 2021 - 4:31 PM
OTTAWA - Skate Canada announced on Monday that the 2021 National Skating Championships and Skate Canada Cup have been cancelled.
Skate Canada says the two events are being cancelled because of the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic across Canada.
The Canadian championships â also the trial competition for the world championships which are scheduled for March in Stockholm â were scheduled to run from Feb. 8-14 in Vancouver.
The second wave of COVID-19 forced Skate Canada to hold the Skate Canada Challenge virtually this past weekend. Skaters performed their programs at their home rinks over the past few weeks, then submitted videos, which were broadcast and judged in real time in an effort to simulate a live competition.
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There were no judges to smile at, and no fans to cheer them on. It was very much like an every-day practice on their home rink but completely different.Pi
If the dancers had difficulty wrapping their heads around competing in isolation, their bodies knew what to do. On ice, it really felt like it was a competition, Gilles said. The nerves came back, the random leg fatigue, the ankle cramps, all that stuff that you experience before you compete, it was no different than doing it in an arena in front of people. Your body and your brain knows the pressures of the situation.
COVID-19 has wiped out every event for Canada s figure skating team since last March, including the world championships last spring in Montreal and Skate Canada International in October.